1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to an electronic control system for motors for the operation of winding devices, such as roller shades, roller shutters, rolling gates and similar, comprising a radio receiver controlled by a radio transmitter.
2. Related Art
In the last few years the custom to use electric controls for the opening and closing movements of roller shutters has been increasingly spreading, especially with the metallic ones, more resistant to force opening but also much heavier than the wooden or plastic ones.
A reversible tubular electric ratiomotor having proper power and speed is therefore applied inside the rotating drum onto which the shutter is winding and a pair of push-button power switches is provided to allow the user to control from the ground the operation of the ratiomotor in one sense or in the other for the corresponding movement of the roller shutter opening or closing.
The end of the opening or closing movement was originally determined by the simple release of the button being pressed, but has subsequently been made automatic by the employment of suitable limit stops associated with the winding drum.
Afterwards there has been a shift to the electronic control of the movement, that is obtained by inserting in the tubular motor an encoder that generates impulses at each prefixed angle of rotation of the drum and also by providing a push-button control panel provided with memory, that by gathering and counting the impulses transmitted by the encoder, allows to memorize desirable limit stop positions at first and then to control in a repetitive way the opening and closing movements of the roller shutter up to the aforementioned limit stop positions.
Possible positioning errors at the end of the opening or closing movement, due to the inevitable inertia of the shutter at the end of the movement and to the possibility of a settling re-descent, can be automatically compensated by electronic control systems for roller shutters, as described for example in EP-A-0671676.
These electronic remote control systems that provide for a radio receiver associated with each winder operating motor and preferably included therein and a portable radio transmitter available to the user on the ground are particularly appreciated.
In such a case, each radio transmitter must have its own identification code that is stored in and can therefore be recognized by the purposely enabled receiver only so as to grant a high safety level to the winding system.
An example of remote control system for transmitting and receiving codified signals that allows the desired dialog univocality between the transmitter and the receiver and, by storing the identification code in the receiver by self-learning, avoids any necessity to physically accede to the receiver, is described in the Italian patent application n. VE97A00021, filed on Jun. 6, 1997 in the name of TELECO AUTOMATION s.r.l.
The usefulness of this system is however limited to enable the transmitters to the control of the respective receivers, while no solution is provided for the setting of the limit stops, which has to be carried out manually, by uncomfortable access to the receiver associated with the winder drum.
In view of the described state of the art, a first object of the present invention is to provide an electronic control system for roller shutters and roller shades, comprising a radio receiver and a radio transmitter, that would allow the remote controlled setting of the limit stops position.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electronic control system for a plurality of winding devices, each provided with a radio receiver, in which a single radio transmitter is enabled to operate simultaneous remote control of all said winding devices.
According to the present invention, the first object is obtained by an electronic control system for motors for the operation of winding devices, such as roller shades, roller gates, rolling shutters and similar, comprising a radio receiver included in the controlled motor and a portable radio transmitter available to the user, wherein the radio transmitter comprises at least two push-buttons for the control of the lifting and lowering movement of the winding device, a radio signal transmitting section provided with an antenna, and a first micro-controller with a first code memory that, at each pressure on at least one of the control push-buttons, sends a codified signal having a respective identification code of the push-button being pressed to the transmitting section, and wherein the radio receiver comprises a radio signal receiving section provided with an antenna and being suitable to receive the codified signal being transmitted through the transmitting section of the radio transmitter, and a second micro-controller with a second code memory, that at each received signal having one of the codes of the second memory generates a control signal for a control unit provided with a third memory that, upon reception of the control signal, starts the motor in one sense of rotation or in the opposite sense according to the identity of the radio-transmitter push-button being pressed and receives identification data of the rotation angle from an encoder coupled to the motor, so as to allow the rotation of the motor itself up to reach a prefixed limit stop, characterized in that, in order to allow the electronic setting of the position of the lifting and lowering limit stops of the winding device, the first micro-controller is programmed in such a way as to generate a first or second codified signal depending on whether a first or second of said control push buttons is pressed, and the second micro-controller is programmed in such a way that, when receiving one of said first or second codified signal, it causes the generation of a first control signal for driving the motor until a first position of limit stop is reached and an information on the limit stop position generated by the encoder is memorized in said third memory and associated with the pressed push-button that has generated said codified signal, so that subsequently, each time that such push-button gets pressed, the system is ready to have the winding device automatically execute the desired movement up to the programmed limit stop position, the aforementioned sequence being repeated for the setting of a second limit stop position corresponding to the pressure on the other one of said first or second push-buttons.
According to another aspect of the present invention the second object is obtained by an electronic control system for motors for the operation of winding devices, such as roller shades, roller gates, rolling shutters and similar, comprising a plurality of radio receivers included in respective controlled motors and a portable radio transmitter available to the user, wherein the radio transmitter comprises at least two push-buttons for the control of the lifting and lowering movement of the winding device, a radio signal transmitting section provided with an antenna, and a first micro-controller provided with a first code memory that, at each pressure on at least one of the control push-buttons, sends a codified signal having a respective identification code of the push-button being pressed to the transmitting section, and wherein each radio receiver comprises a radio signal receiving section provided with an antenna and being suitable to receive the codified signal being transmitted through the transmitting section of the radio transmitter, and a second micro-controller provided with a second code memory, that at each received signal having one of the codes of the second memory generates a control signal for a control unit provided with a third memory that, upon reception of the control signal, starts the motor in one sense of rotation or in the opposite sense according to the identity of the radio transmitter push-button being pressed and receives identification data of the rotation angle from an encoder coupled to the motor, so as to allow the rotation of the motor itself up to reach a prefixed limit stop, characterized in that the radio transmitter comprises a further push-button connected to the first micro-controller to cause it to generate a radio receiver enabling codified signal and third and fourth push-buttons connected to the first-micro-controller to generate a further codified signal for centralized control of a plurality of radio receivers.